Archives for March 10, 2019

I’m almost completely over Netlifx. As a single mother of two, that’s a pretty sad spot to be in. Netflix was basically my social life. But all this political correctness is starting to irritate me. The tidal wave of ‘strong female leads’, and the exact proportion of people of color scattered throughout their movies is not exactly subtle. And it feels just a little bit forced–which brings me to women in blockchain.

Before you start to yell ‘fascist’, ‘racist’, or ‘sexist’, you should probably know I’m a female writer with Arabic roots–and also how irrelevant that is. I know how to appreciate great content and exceptional actors. But I can tell when they’re filling a quota.

After that human cockroach Harvey Weinstein thrust the subject of female oppression and abuse into the spotlight, the #MeToo movement gathered momentum. And like everything in life, it’s gone too far.

No one knows if they’ve ‘made it’ because they’re good or if they’re making up for centuries of repression.

We Need More Women in Blockchain-But Why?

Millions of women around the world are mistreated and suffer at the hands of men. That’s lamentable. But worse still are the many millions more that hashtagged into a movement after being felt up in a car after too many beers.

Come on. We’re so much better than that. Instead of victimizing ourselves, women in any industry from blockchain to pornography should be able to handle themselves with a little more grace.

It wasn’t long after the #MeToo movement that I was backed into a corner by an overbearing Matriarchal type in a Dublin bar after a conference.

“We need more women in tech” she proclaimed while swigging on her Guinness. I, backed against a wall and just a little bit scared of having a weight disadvantage in this fight, dutifully agreed. Until she said:

You’re a writer, we need a writer to explain blockchain to women. Can you do that for us, write us an article about blockchain in a way that women will understand?

At that point, bookie’s advantage or no, I no longer cared whether her right hook would send me into a coma or not. In fact, I involuntarily spat out my champagne. Not my proudest moment, but it seems I have an in-built reflex for repelling stupidity.

Lord help the rest of us pertaining to the ‘weaker sex’ if this is the kind of ambassador we have.

Please Let’s Not Start Filling Up Quotas

Over the years, I’ve been invited to speak, interview, write, and even pertain to several groups about women in blockchain. But that memory of the Irish bar makes me cringe. Perhaps it was the Guinness (another thing that can make you nauseous if too much is rammed down your throat). But I rather think it was more than that.

Blythe Masters, former managing director and head of JP Morgan Global Commodities was a high-profile blockchain executive not for because of her gender but her accompishments in Wall Street. | Source: AP Photo/Manuel Balce CenetaAP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

So here’s the thing you’re just not supposed to say…

In the wake of International Women’s Day on Friday, which I, by the way, celebrated by waking up at 6 am, preparing my kids for school, working for nine hours, picking them up, feeding them, bathing them, making a papier-mache caterpiller, and then going back to work, find myself wondering…

Why do we need more women in blockchain?

Because the last thing we need is for blockchain to start following in Netflix’ shoes. Blockchain is neutral to gender, religion, color, location. If hundreds of women run hundreds of nodes, that is of no relevance whatsoever.

But if all of a sudden, we felt that a certain number of nodes had to be run by women, that would feel decidedly like an intervention. A centralized affair that flies in the face of Satoshi’s vision.

We Shouldn’t Force Blockchain on People

I spoke to Franklyn Richards of Litecoin a while back. I wondered why, if blockchain is for everyone, they would choose to sponsor such a male-dominated event as the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

He understood what I was getting at about blockchain being inclusive, but argued that you shouldn’t fight against the market or force things on people. If they are interested they will come.

And to an extent, I agree.

Of course, you can take the other road, and say we need more education for women beginning at a grassroots level in STEM subjects. Maybe removing the deluge of pink toys and princesses and barbies would be a smart move as well.

But then again, it isn’t only women who need educating on blockchain technology.

After all, us females may lag behind in the numbers. But if new findings by the FCA are to be believed, cryptocurrency is mainly used by men aged 20 to 44 and:

‘73% of all those asked said they could not define it.’

Where Is the ‘Men in Blockchain’ Movement?

Then there’s the other sticky wicket that sprouts from the very issue of singling out successful women in blockchain. There is no ‘men in blockchain’ movement. No man has ever been hallmarked and asked what it’s like to be a male in this industry. Yet their female coworkers are fielding these brain-draining questions every day.

If it’s to sex up the stands and provide testosterone-fueled male developers with some eye-candy at conferences, let’s just hire more escorts.

Because from where I’m standing, no one is actually denying women access. There’s plenty of room for women in blockchain who want to prove themselves, just as anywhere else in life. This isn’t a private gentleman’s club, even if an after-party at an event can leave you feeling that way.

While we have ambassadors for the ‘women in tech’ movement making poor females believe that their lady brains can’t assimilate information in the same way as a man, frankly, we’re doing more harm than good.

So, yes. The whole women in blockchain thing makes me nauseous.

No one should ever be denied access to anything. Unless they’re not qualified, not old enough, not prepared, or just clinically stupid.

Hopefully, the whole shakeup in Hollywood will open the doors for more minority actors and women around the world.

Just as long as they’re good at what they do and the content doesn’t start to become painful to watch.

Like blockchain, more women would be amazing if they choose to come. But if they don’t, that’s ok too.

And let’s not make them feel like aliens when they arrive.

Interviewing Elizabeth Stark or Blythe Masters, let’s ask them about their achievements and not their genitalia. Women in blockchain will get much further if we stop reminding them they have a vagina.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article are solely those of the author and do not represent those of, nor should they be attributed to, CCN.

Roger Ver is among the most polarizing characters in the crypto industry. He often goes against the grain, even if it earns him notoriety. Such is the case with recent comments made by Ver, defending San Francisco-based Coinbase in the face of the ongoing #DeleteCoinbase boycott.

In his recent interview with CNBC, America’s most successful capitalist Warren Buffett reiterated his negative stance on bitcoin.The legendary investor told Becky Quick that bitcoin was a delusional asset which “attracts charlatans,” adding:“If you do something phony by going out and selling yo-yos or something, there’s no money in it — but when you get into Wall Street, there’s huge money.”The comments didn’t surprise. Buffett has already made a name of himself for being a staunch bitcoin critic. Last year, at the Woodstock of Capitalism, Buffett and his sidekick Charles Munger gathered to talk investing and ended up providing one of the most reference quotes on bitcoin. Buffett warned that cryptocurrencies like bitcoin would come to a bad end, while Munger called them a “dementia.”

However, this time, Buffett, in particular, tried to kick the bitcoin fans below their belts, by calling them frauds. It was certainly not going to go well among the white suits who primarily invested in bitcoin. Barry Silbert, Founder, and CEO of Digital Currency Group, for instance, took potshots at Buffett for investing in a firm named in multi-billion dollar frauds.

“Wells Fargo, a Buffett investment, has been fined 93 times for fraud and other abuses, for a total of $14.8 billion in fines since just 2000,” wrote Silbert. “I’ll take bitcoin’s “charlatans” over that any day.”

Wells Fargo, a Buffett investment, has been fined 93 times for fraud and other abuses, for a total of $14.8 billion in fines since just 2000

The fines make roughly 20-percent of the Bitcoin’s market capitalization.

A Hypocritic Capitalist

A brilliant investor that he had become, Warren Buffett cannot let go of his past full of shady insider deals. In retrospective, his father was a stock market broker and a congressman. These are the only people who could trade on insider information without having to deal with criminal charges. Buffett spent a gala time in his father’s office learning about stocks and eventually bought his first shares at the age of 11.

By the time Buffett had come of age, he was already investing in firms suspected in financial frauds. His tales about Goldman Sachs fraud and what he did to bail himself and his company, Berkshire Hathaway, out would take a separate article to explain. But the case explained what power and money – and a handful of good connections – can do. (To know further about it, I would recommend you read this article.)

Source: Reuters

And indeed, Buffett is 90% brilliant because of his political connections. The US government seeks his help while making their bailout decisions. And when an investor of such caliber gets firsthand information about the billions of dollars in bailout money coming to Bank of America and Wells Fargo before anyone else, then it is likely he buys millions of share in both the firms at a cheaper rate to sell them a few years later at a higher price.

Did Warren Buffett think about working with charlatans, then? No. It shows the hypocrisy.

Why Does Buffett Hate Bitcoin?

Warren Buffett is 88. One cannot expect him to understand the complex nature of cryptocurrencies, the Merkle trees, the proof-of-work, and whatnot. He is the same person who missed on Apple earnings as late as 2011. Instead, Berkshire invested $10 billion in IBM, thinking it was a superior firm at that time. As the world already knows, Buffet’s firm exited IBM on a substantial loss. At the same time, Apple’s stock value had quadrupled.

As a crypto believer, I do not expect him to understand bitcoin in his remaining life. For the very same reason, his opinions have to stop mattering to young investors, the denizens, who understands how the bitcoin’s underlying tech works. But to say they are charlatans brings me to quote British economist John Maynard Keynes:

“Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone.”

Like they will.

[Disclaimer: The opinions discussed in this article are of the author. NewsBTC does not claim any responsibilityfor errors/claims made in the article.]

Noelle Acheson is a veteran of company analysis and member of CoinDesk’s product team.

The following article originally appeared in Institutional Crypto by CoinDesk, a newsletter for the institutional market, with news and views on crypto infrastructure delivered every Tuesday. Sign up here.

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Financial market data feeds are generally not the most compelling of businesses. Commoditized, concentrated and with very little scope for creativity, they are among the most boring ways of making money in financial markets.

Even in the crypto sector, the flood of information confuses, obfuscates and quickly becomes noise.

But a shift is under way: data extraction is moving from being something done in the background to a primary activity in its own right. In traditional markets it now generates significant income for exchanges, and in some cases the majority of profits.

The underlying philosophies are very different, however, as are the end goals. The path taken by traditional exchanges is diluting their original intent. Crypto markets, on the other hand, are more faithful to the original ethos – and as their influence expands, their handling of data has the potential to take capital markets back to their wealth-spreading origins.

A bit of history

Stock exchanges evolved to fulfil two main needs: liquidity and price discovery. The idea was that liquidity would come from investors basing decisions on reliable price data to which all participants had access. Back when trading venues were owned by their “members,” this worked – they exchanged positions among themselves and knew at what price other participants were willing to buy or sell. This provided a “fair” view of the market.

But with the demutualization of leading stock exchanges, ownership of and access to that data changed. Stock exchanges became independent for-profit companies and started to treat one of their most important assets – data generated on their platforms – as a proprietary, competitive advantage.

The significant revenues generated by what once belonged to the market – at the expense of market participants – has generated much resentment, leading the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to step in and investigate. The exchanges are not happy about what they see as an incursion into a handsome profit generator, and are questioning the SEC’s authority in this area.

Things are getting tense, but at the same time light is being shed on both the role of exchanges and of regulators in the creation and maintenance of fair markets.

And, of course, on the role of data.

An alternative system

In traditional markets, access to data was a linchpin for equal opportunity. Gated access creates an uneven playing field, which concentrates market influence in the hands of those who are already ahead.

Crypto markets are different. Most of the main cryptoasset exchanges give away their data for free via APIs, in order to encourage more liquidity – similar to the intention of the original stock exchanges.

Similar, but not the same. The original stock exchanges were created for professional investors. The original crypto exchanges were created for the retail market, so the distribution of information needs a broader scope.

Furthermore, the exchange landscape is much more fragmented than with traditional securities. After just over 400 years of evolution, there are approximately 80 operating stock exchanges in the world. In less than 10 years, over 240 crypto exchanges have emerged.

Throw in the fact that the more liquid cryptoassets quote on several exchanges (whereas most stocks quote on just one), and it becomes obvious that coming up with a “representative” price feed to cover the bulk of the market is trickier than it seems.

Plus, the data from many exchanges is not widely trusted. Volumes can be easily inflated through practices such as wash trading, which can also distort prices. Even if an exchange wanted to charge for its data, would it be worth it for customers?

Dig deeper

Hence the emergence of a new type of crypto business: independent data providers that go directly to the relevant blockchain to extract information and translate it into human-readable form. This adds a layer of analysis, beyond what can be obtained from market data, that will help inform insights and investment decisions.

In traditional markets, data analysis is big business – Bloomberg (just one example) started out providing market information and analytics in 1983, and now generates over $1 billion in revenue.

But Bloomberg and its peers (and consequently their clients) rely on data feeds that belong to and are monetized by the exchanges. Crypto analysts rely on data feeds that belong to the market.

This structure is how markets were originally supposed to look. For fair pricing and transparent distribution, data needs to be evenly available to all participants. The emergent infrastructure supporting the growth of crypto markets could end up nudging capital markets back in that direction.

A self-fulfilling cycle

It will need the help of data analytics, though. The impact that recently funded startups such as Coin Metrics, Flipside and The Graph could have goes way beyond better charts and interfaces.

The service that they offer is an essential part of drawing institutional investors into the market. Institutional investors will rarely take a position without a substantial amount of documentation and research. Often they are required to justify their decisions to clients and boards, with models, graphs and well-reasoned scenarios.

The lack of reliable market data is being gradually overcome by the emergence of dashboards that attempt to remove dubious information and adjust for weaknesses in feeds. Some are very good, and the quality is improving all the time. These, combined with original and relatively reliable analysis from blockchain data, paint a detailed picture investors can get comfortable with.

The increase in volumes from the resulting investment will lead to better market data and more on-chain analysis, which will lead to higher levels of comfort, more investment, even better market data and even more on-chain analysis. And so on.

Buckle up, the institutionalization of bitcoin and crypto, in general, has begun.Swissquote, a $618 million worth online banking group, announced Friday that it is partnering with Zug-based Crypto Storage to enable cryptocurrency custodial services on its platform. The Gland-based said that institutional investors on its platform would be able to transfer cryptocurrencies from their external wallets to a Swissquote account and vice versa.New swiss bank @Swissquote launching their #crypto custody. Which one will be the next ? Take a chance pic.twitter.com/tDdvKaZvx8— Stéphane Lüthi (@luethistephane) March 8, 2019The move came as a part of Swissquote’s crypto expansion. In 2017, the group had opened a cryptocurrency trading platform, allowing its clients to trade the five significant digital assets, including bitcoin, XRP, litecoin, and ether.Anti-Nuke Crypto SecurityCustody has been the missing link of the cryptocurrency infrastructure. As of now, crypto exchanges double as custodians which not just raise regulatory concerns but puts assets’ security at risk. At the same time, traditional custodians lack the experience of handling digital assets, whose security relies on holding wallets’ private keys near and dear. Such a gap has kept institutional investors far from investing in bitcoin, ether and other top coins.By partnering with Crypto Storage, a FinTech company, Swissquote is ensuring that the responsibility of digital asset custodianship remains with a firm that knows how to handle the job. Crypto Storage offers a “proprietary infrastructure solution to manage private keys, both physical and digital, on highest grade hardware security modules” that are similar to those used by the Swiss National Bank.#CryptoChart of the week!In the following Chart, we show you the system architecture of Crypto Storage AG, one of the companies which offer custodian services of cryptocurrencies, and how do they solve the custody problem for investors.#custody#cryptocurrency#investorpic.twitter.com/ODrDCkOUj8— The Crypto Report (@CryptoManagers) February 25, 2019As private keys could be stored as a form of physical evidence – on a piece of paper, for instance – Crypto Storage has ensured that its rack-servers remain safe from physical attacks. The startup’s CEO Stijn Vander Straeten admitted that they were using military bunkers in a secret location as a shield to protect their servers. Interestingly, even a nuclear bomb cannot harm those bunks, according to Straeten.Crypto ExpansionIn the same announcement, Swissquote shared its plans to take its business to Asia. The group stated that it had founded a branch in Singapore and was going to apply for a capital markets services license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). At the same time, Swissquote will list 14 Asian exchanges on its platform for real-time trading.

The move hints a broader market exposure for Swissquote’s cryptocurrency trading and custodian services. Meanwhile, the company feared that its pretax profit might get reduced by about $10 million due to the said expansion. It could mean that Swissquote would launch services that yield the maximum earnings for it before those that produce the least. With cryptocurrency still being an experimental service, one can expect that Swissquote would launch its crypto trading solutions in Asia at a later stage.

Nevertheless, the writing is on the wall. Swissquote’s decision to expand its crypto solution indicates demand from the institutional front. The company has clearly foreseen big inbound investments into this space – much like the rest of the cryptocurrency community.

The Sovereign (SOV) digital currency looks set to become the first decentralized national digital currency. It could be used in the Marshall Islands on an equal footing with the US dollar. Such cryptocurrency as legal tender, even in a small state, is a larger step on the path to crypto-adoption.

Island State Passes Bill to Create SOV Despite IMF Objections

The Marshall Islands says it’s the first country ever to accept a cryptocurrency as national legal tender. It passed a key bill this week for SOV’s creation. According to reports by the publication Haaretz the plans had been hotly debated by Marshall Islands leaders for days.

Concerns were raised over the amount of SOV which would be allocated to SOV’s creators Neema. These were combatted with the prospect of a cash injection into the Marshall Islands via investment in the new currency.

This is a historic moment for our people, finally issuing and using our own currency, alongside the USD…It is another step of manifesting our national liberty.”

As part of the plans, 2.4 million SOV will be issued to the Marshallese people. The launch could raise $30 million, around half of this value would go to the startup Neema.

Implications for the Marshall Islands

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has criticized the plans with a number of concerns including the risk of money laundering and that the Marshall Islands could lose its only corresponding banking relationship (CBR) with the US. The IMF says:

In the absence of adequate risk mitigating measures, the issuance of a decentralized digital currency as a second legal tender would not only increase macroeconomic and financial integrity risks but elevate the risk of losing the last U.S. dollar CBR.

Though the IMF seems unable to prevent the issuance of the SOV the Marshall Islands could see objection lead to the retraction of some of the international aid it relies on.

The US contributes around $70 million annually in assistance. And, the US Treasury Department has raised its concerns including the illicit implications of anonymity. That said, the SOV will require users to register their identities, so the coin will not follow the pseudo-anonymous nature of bitcoin.

SOV Project Led by Israeli Startup Neema

Neema’s co-owner Barak Ben Ezer says he made a list of countries potentially open to a cryptocurrency as legal tender. The entrepreneur told TheMarker he excluded countries like Sweden, looking for smaller countries which vote alongside Israel in the United Nations:

The smaller that a country is, the easier it would be for it to adopt such a currency. I added another parameter: that the country not have a currency of its own, which is how I got to the Marshall Islands.

Neema’s law firm Yigal Arnon & Co are reportedly helping the Marshall Islands central bank to create the legislation needed to operate its own currency. The firm’s Yuval Shalhevet says:

The rulers of the Marshall Islands had never dealt with monetary regulation. We helped write the law.

Launch Delayed by Lack of Cryptocurrency Momentum

The Times of Israel reports that Neema is still working on the technology and logistics of the issue as well as answering US regulatory concerns. Ben Ezer confirms the launch of the SOV is planned for 2019. But only once “stakeholders are convinced” and “risks have been mitigated” he adds. The launch is further impacted by 2018’s crypto-winter:

We are working days and nights to prepare the foundations of the SOV initial coin offering, with the goal of being ready to launch once positive momentum is back to the markets

Ben Ezer said SOV buyers would be verified against the US Office of Foreign Asset Control to ensure legitimacy.

Tangem May Issue Smart Banknotes for the First Cryptocurrency as Legal Tender Source: Tangem

In January Swiss smart card wallet maker Tangem revealed it would be creating physical banknotes for the SOV. These “banknotes” are actually a smart card containing a blockchain-enabled microprocessor allowing users to carry cryptocurrencies in their pockets.

The positive market momentum sought by the Marshall Islands and Neema to launch a cryptocurrency as legal tender may be on the horizon. Some cryptocurrencies are surging. Bitcoin’s price is still relatively stable but analysts believe the recent success of other coins and an upcoming block reward “halving” could lead to a new “meteoric” bitcoin boom.

Crypto markets inching slowly higher; Stellar is moving up, Cardano and NEM not far behind.Market WrapCrypto markets are slowly inching higher over the weekend indicating a big move could be bubbling up. Most of the major coins have not done much but larger swings by one or two has lifted total market cap slightly. It is currently approaching $135 billion and there is more green than red on the boards this Sunday morning.Bitcoin made it to an intraday high of $3,985 which is the highest it has been for two weeks. BTC has since pulled back to $3,950 but it has remained over $3,900 for the past 24 hours and added one percent on the day. The next move is a break above $4,000 which could come in the next few hours.Ethereum has made a little back to reach $137 again but gains are marginal and ETH has done very little for the past few days. XRP is in the same situation and the gap between the two remains the same as the Ripple tokens trades sideways at $0.312.The top ten is mostly in the green during today’s Asian trading session. One altcoin surging above the rest at the time of writing is Stellar which has made 7% on the day. XLM has reached $0.094 almost equaling its monthly high. Stellar has been one of the weaker altcoins over the past few months getting surpassed by its brethren in terms of market cap. The community is expecting a big announcement at the upcoming Money 20/20 fintech event which could be driving momentum. Bitcoin Cash is the only other altcoin with a decent gain as it makes almost 3%, the rest are a fraction of a percent off yesterday’s prices.There are a couple of movers in the top twenty at the time of writing, namely Cardano and NEM. ADA has added 5% on the day allowing it to flip Bitcoin SV and take eleventh spot and NEM has made 7.5%. The rest are pretty immobile with Maker and Ontology slipping back slightly.FOMO: Cosmo Coin ClimbingToday’s big pump is Cosmo Coin which was recently added to the supported cryptos on Samsung’s new Galaxy S10. The Korean cosmetics based token has surged 46% on the day as it enters the top one hundred. The Cosmee service has been enabled on the Galaxy wallet which has generated the pump for COSM;Greetings from Cosmochain,We are notifying that Cosmee service is currently available through the Galaxy Wallet.For more details about the announcement, please visit our Facebook page!https://t.co/pIOcpdFYOD— Cosmochain(COSM) (@Cosmochain) March 9, 2019THETA is also getting a boost today as it gets lifted 28% as the run up to mainnet launch gathers momentum. The only double figure dump is yesterday’s pump, Project PAI dropping 14% on the day.Total market cap 24 hours. Coinmarketcap.comTotal crypto market capitalization has crept up about a billion bucks to $134 billion where it has remained for the best part of the past 24 hours. Daily volume is still high at $34 billion indicating a further move to the upside could be imminent. Since the same time last weekend crypto markets have recovered 3% while Bitcoin dominance has fallen to 51.6%.Market Wrap is a section that takes a daily look at the top cryptocurrencies during the current trading session and analyses the best-performing ones, looking for trends and possible fundamentals.